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You don’t hear a lot of stories about accountants trashing hotel rooms. What can people learn from the rock ’n’ roll business, which appears to be the least business-like business on Earth?

Number one, there’s no better teamwork than a band listening to each other. Number two, creativity: Look at the amazing songs and creative work that’s come out of rock stars — in businesses today, you need more creativity to be successful. Three, how bands collaborate with other artists to develop products, and finding partners — people who work with you to make your business increase revenue. To me, a partner is anyone stacking the records at a record store or putting your video on MTV. Four, you can also learn about promotion — how these people get the word out and how they sell the product to the masses.

How do successful bands create teamwork better than traditional businesses?

I liken it to the Rolling Stones and The Who. People said the Rolling Stones would be successful with just Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. My belief is they need Bill Wyman there, too.

Every musician makes up the success of a band. Some are stronger in certain areas, some play differently. But it’s that combination that works — having a band of five Mick Jaggers isn’t going to work.

What does rock teach us about personal branding?

You can learn branding from rock ’n’ roll in many different ways.

One of the important things in branding is understanding what you’re about — branding’s everything today: Bands have to consider their logos, their merchandising, their audience, where they’re playing.

If the gold standard is the Rolling Stones, rock ’n’ roll has an extraordinarily high failure rate. Is there a lesson there?

Yes — staying with your beliefs. Having patience. So many start off in the business, and if they don’t make it in a few years, they quit. My belief is if you do the same thing over and over again, you’re going to be successful. What you can learn from the people who quit is they didn’t put enough of their hearts into it.

Being in a band looks like fun! How important is fun to somebody’s job?

The number-one message in my book is passion. You need it to be successful in life — if you don’t have passion, you’re not going to enjoy your job. And what’s great about being a rock star is the passion it exudes.

Who’s the savviest business mind you’ve known in rock?

I have to admire Gene Simmons from KISS, and the way The Beatles run their business. And a band like Dave Matthews knows how to keep in touch with its fan base and use the Internet. [These bands] do it year after year after year. There’s something to be said about that.